Feed: Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics
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Title: AppleΓÇÖs smart home hub could reportedly make its debut later this
year

Date: Sun, 25 May 2025 16:17:02 +0000
Link: https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/appl...

Apple's long-awaited smart home hub could be available as soon as the end of
this year, according to the latest report from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
Rumors surrounding Apple's smart home hub began circulating as early as 2022,
when the product was first reportedly greenlit. However, the road to its
release has been rocky since the product was expected to heavily rely on
Apple Intelligence. Gurman previously reported in March that Apple had
delayed the announcement of its smart home hub thanks to issues with
upgrading Siri.

Gurman has since updated his expected timeline for Apple's upcoming product,
claiming that a lower-end version will release "by the end of this year at
the earliest." Gurman also revealed that a more advanced version that can
"move around a person's desk on the end of a robotic arm" should release a
year or two after the basic model's launch and is a "major priority at
Apple." To meet this release window, Apple will reportedly abandon some of
the "bolder features" with the robotic arm model. Gurman added that those
features could be pushed back to later models instead.

Apple has said very little about its smart home hub, but rumors detail a
design that draws from both the HomePod and iPad. It's rumored to have a
seven-inch display, a new operating system called homeOS, and a dashboard
that resembles the iPhone's StandBy mode. Apple will have to compete with
existing smart home hubs like Amazon's Echo lineup and Google's Nest Hub, but
it's rumored that the starting price for the robotic arm version could start
at $1,000.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at
https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/appl...
reportedly-make-its-debut-later-this-year-161702487.html?src=rss

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